My number one
by partofforever
Summary: It's Results Day at Wammy's House, but for some reason the results are missing. Mello and Near team up to invastigate the burning issue.


_**AN** : Written for the amazing Secret Shinigami Halloween Exchange on tumblr. My promt was: Results Day at Wammy's House (Near, Mello, Matt). Enjoy!_

* * *

 **My number one**

"Where is it?" Mello run into his room, looking around like a stray dog trying to find its prey. "Where did you hide it?"

"May I know what exactly do you mean by it?" Near asked from behind a card tower, not even bothered to get up.

"The results!" His self proclaimed nemesis started searching for it under the single bed, even though Near thought it was the worst place to hide a piece of paper. He would hide it somewhere inside Roger's briefcase, so it would be not only most probably never found because of the mess the briefcase was, but even if it was found, no one would suspect him. A perfect crime, wasn't it?

"You took it, because I was number one, right?" Near saw the angrily narrowed eyes through one of his finely made towers.

"Hm," he answered vaguely, trying to decide whether he should use all sevens or maybe threes for the next module.

Why was it even so important for Mello? The results were based on tests and riddles, nothing someone skilled couldn't do. They weren't testing intellect, only ranking their skillfulness.

"You did it!" Mello exclaimed in fury once again, destroying all of Near's card structures in a single move. "Where is it then? Let me see it!"

"I didn't take it," Near finally decided to clarify, looking at the mess around them with despise. He could start over of course, but there were too many variables to make it look the same. It could be better, but he was no longer in the right mood. Well, he could as well go out of his room… for some time. "I'll help you find it."

"If you took it, you'd offer something like this, I know you," the older boy snorted with hatred, but Near shrugged his shoulders and stepped outside the circle of cards. Soon after Mello followed, looking pissed and intrigued at the same time.

…

"When was the last time you saw the list?"

They were sitting in Roger's large office, the man more than surprised seeing both of them working together. It was past dinner already and Roger thought he was done with kids for the day, but apparently the ranking sheet vanished and some of his students were rather upset about it.

"Well, one of you was first, right? Is it really so important?" He tried to avoid the investigation somehow, but Mello's fierce gaze nearly pierced through his skull and brain. "What I meant was… No one's questioning your lead."

Mello tried to say something, but Near, the smallest and scariest twelve-year-old Roger ever saw, didn't let him:

"That's not a proper answer to our question." The boy was playing with a loose puzzle piece, not looking into his interlocutor's eyes. "If you cooperate, we'll let you free."

The puzzle piece was probably one from his last Christmas set - a thousand white pieces without any pattern… What kid would like to get something like this? Sometimes Roger wondered why did he say yes when Quillish asked him to help with this facility… Oh yes, he owed him a lot of money…

"I put it up around six o'clock, just before I went out for a walk," the man sighted, giving up. The sooner he answered the kids' questions, the sooner they'd go away.

"Did you meet anyone?" It was Mello this time, still looking at him hungrily like a wild beast. "Did you see him?" he added, pointing at Near accusingly.

"What? No, I didn't meet anyone…" he stopped for a moment, wondering if he was alone this morning.

"There's no use to continue this," Near stated shortly, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, he's hopeless…" Mallo seemed equally disappointed.

The boys left his office discussing who should be their next possible witness.

For a brief moment Roger wanted to run after them - he suddenly remembered something. He did see someone earlier. Matt was sneaking out of the kitchen, probably pilfering some snacks… Most importantly though, it was Matt who was at the top this time.

In the end Roger didn't leave his office. Maybe he owed Quillish some money, but he wouldn't let these kids treat him like some old crackpot.

…

The weather is really nice today, Near thought, looking at the falling leaves. He didn't express his joy in any other way than thinking, still looking emotionless. It was nearly November and Linda made some Halloween decorations with the younger kids. Sometimes he did wonder how would his life look if he wasn't… Well, if he wasn't a genius detective. There were other kids at Wammy's who were brilliant in different fields and it seemed they were a little bit happier. Not that he was unhappy. If he was, he'd find a way out.

Mello, on the other hand, seemed endlessly annoyed. He was always angry, probably because he was the second one, always behind Near's back. Maybe the fact that Near didn't care about this title that much was making Mello even more irritated? It was possible, though quite illogical.

As much as Near didn't like the illogical factor of life, he had to admit it made it a little bit less boring.

…

"Did you find it?" Matt asked from his bunker-like bed. It was supposed to look like an emergency center for a zombie apocalypse, but for Mello it was more like something else Matt liked a lot - mess.

"No, Near won't confess," he sat down next to his roommate, squeezing under his hands to lie his head on Matt's lap without interrupting his game. "But I'm sure it was him. He simply doesn't want me to know I'm better."

"Hm," Matt answered in a rather agreeing tone, still looking at the flashing screen. "Is it really so important?"

"Well, it obviously is? Not that I need a proof to know I'm the best, but people won't know until they see it on paper."

"Hm," once again Matt didn't quite voice what he was thinking. "You know, for me you are the best. My number one."


End file.
